Onlyasandwich

Copying below my take on Shield/BS. I understand you are going for a value build, which this definitely is not! That being said, it's not full of five winter sets or anything. The ATOs are real game changers for any build. I see you focused on Force Feedback procs, which are of course nice. My build is still nicely offensive, but gets its recharge from other areas. I kept your power choices the same so as not to disrupt preference/theme there. I'm not a huge fan of focused accuracy myself, as it's an end hog, but it's useful for heavy tohit debuff scenarios. It's either that or CP on the way to Physical Perfection though, so either is fine, really. To answer your buildup proc question - FA is simply not a good place for it. Even with full slots, buildup has only a little less than 80% proc chance. I can't think of a scenario where you would want gaussian's in FA. It is sometimes useful in tactics, as you get a proc chance for every teammate it affects, but FA has no such added odds.

There is a lot more at a deeper level, but here are the highlights of what stand out to me: Grant cover is a pretty important ability, as it comprises a good chunk of your defense debuff resistance. The ally defense buff is a happy bonus, and it's a useful lotg mule otherwise. I don't know that Hack is worth using just for the achilles proc alone, so the extra slot could be used elsewhere if you aren't going to give it slotting attention. However, it's worth noting that BS is rather unique in that its tier 1 (hack) is actually a good attack, and worthy of real damage slotting. You would be better served by a full gaussian's in Build Up to polish off your other positionals for incarnate content and give some pad for debuffs. The Dam/KB in shield charge is a waste, especially given that it doesn't look like you specifically want it to knock back. Shield Charge does not need KB to KD enhancement otherwise, as its native behavior is KD. Phalanx Fighting is not worthy of extra defense slotting, as the enhanceable value is almost nothing. These are prime slots to move to hack to make it a real attack. Against all odds does not benefit from recharge, as it is an always on toggle. Just drop end redux in there. Deflection is worthy of mixed slotting in order to maximize S/L resist. Its base value is the same as tough. Don't neglect its defense values of course, but play around with IOs or even HOs to get the best of both worlds. The heal slots in physical perfection are largely wasted. You get better S/L resist return on throwing resist into deflection. The regen is negligible. If you plan on using Parry, it would be worth slotting as a real attack. I would reconsider your overall slotting to perhaps incorporate more melee defense where possible (ie, 6th slot in oblit, unbreakable guard in tough) and dropping parry. Parry is a prime drop to pick up grant cover. If you research other Shield/ builds here on the Tanker forums, you will see many hitting incarnate softcapped defense (or very near) in all positions without heavy sacrifices elsewhere. If you find yourself running short on slots pursuing these priorities, One with the Shield is a nice power and a great slot mule for the glad armor 3% IO. I would consider dropping conserve power for this. Between your slotted uniques and physical perfection, your recovery is already decent. I may revisit this and provide a more in-depth reply, but I hope this helps!

War mace has outstanding aoe as well! Standard pbaoe in whirling, amazing cone in crowd control, shatter to fill. Otherwise I am quite partial to savage melee as others mentioned. It has a seamless aoe chain that is very easy to use. Single target is a bit lacking though.

I like it! I think the entomb proc is okay, but you will be getting more than enough +absorb from regular blaze usage. The Defender ATO proc is going off pretty much every time, and you have Blaze on a fast rotation. A small note on Oppressive Gloom - I would slot for accuracy or stun. It doesn't really cost any appreciable end. In fact, with VG's defense debuff plus your global acc, it may be interesting to throw the purple tohit debuff proc in there. Those extra slots in Venemous Gas are still a bit perplexing to me. I'd keep the Achilles in Envenom instead and leave VG with just base slot HO Enzyme. Two if you really want to max -tohit. This would free up at least two more slots to do whatever. I also like a bit of acc in envenom itself. Although you have global acc and some defense debuffs, you may want to open with envenom on faster teams, and you want it to hit reliably on your approach, or for things that are out of range of VG. It's poison's can-opener! I love Intuition radial! I think it's a perfect choice. You should be okay for end consumption, so the extra range and hold duration is handy versus musculature radial. If you do use any of my above advice to free up slots, I like Envenom or fireball as targets. If you find yourself using flares often, it may be worth optimizing this power further as well. I hope you have a blast!

I like a lot of what you've done here! Poison is such a fun set to build, as so much of its power is packed into a tight package, so you have a lot of extra slotting freedom. Ranged defense may not be the most effective focus here. If you are maximizing poison, you are spending most of your time in melee. A S/L focus may be more beneficial overall. Your offensive power slotting looks really on point. Great balance of procs and set bonuses. You could easily remove dampened spirits from VG and replace with an Enzyme, leaving a slot to play with for inferno, or some other power that would enjoy a little love. Like @DreadShinobi I'm not a huge fan of achilles in VG, as it is so inconsistent in a toggle Aoe. Not useless, but perhaps better value elsewhere with that slot. Maybe an extra proc in fireball instead. I also really like Elixir of Life as a one slot mule for gladiator, and as an enabler for sloppy haphazard fun. I love the TP pool nowadays! Combat teleport is a joy. I agree that Combat Jumping may be more "by the numbers" optimal, but this is fine if you are invested in the theme. You might consider switching Psy for Dark Mastery epic. The proccy hold is awesome, but less needed in /Fire with it's already strong ST damage. I'd pick up Dark Consumption and leave it as a two slot wonder, Dark embrace of course, and Soul Drain. Lots of self-buffing, very melee friendly, and complements /Fire very well.

For the Sonic bit, this thread has a good conversation on optimal slotting for these powers: Sonic is a great team contributor, but can struggle to kill hard targets by itself unless the team is piling on. A proccy hold, and proccing out screech or shout really goes a long way to making this feel a lot better. Obviously this approach sacrifices some slotting opportunities for other priorities like ranged defense, but I think having beefy blasts on cold is especially important, given that you will be spending a lot of time on your secondary.

I hear you on this one. I'm of the mind that it's usually worth risking lower defense on controllers to give their controls a chance to actually do something! Why dance around softcapped if those vines are holding them tight anyhow? Storm has hurricane to plug the gap when needed anyhow.

I'm with you here, Heraclea. I pretty much just steal the Energy Font proc and drop it in my immob or something else I'm proccing out. If I'm reeeeeally reaching for ranged softcap (I seldom bother to push all the way there on controllers - we have these things that keep mobs from hitting us in the first place!), I may drop superior will of the controller in my disorient or aoe hold. Otherwise again I just steal the proc for whatever power could benefit the most from another purple damage proc. I can't really think of a situation where I'd slot out the entire Overpowering Presence set. Maybe if there were reasons for controls to do more than shut down the alpha, it would be worthwhile. Maybe a really slow solo controller might appreciate it? Even then, it's sort of self-fulfilling - you're going to be slow if you don't take your damage where you can get it!

As @Nemu said, 2 slot zephyr and lotg standard. I use hover in combat and want some speed, so prefer to slot the zephyr -kb elsewhere like flight. I usually pick hover early in my build and pile on any unique defense ios that aren't going into sets. Kismet and one or both of the damage resist ios commonly. Most of my builds follow the same philosophy here with either hover or combat jumping.

Here's another chiming in for Defender! Corruptor would work just great, but I think the LS and nado damage scales push it over the edge for Defender. Also easier to softcap ranged defense, though hurricane more than makes up for that if you enjoy using it. Being forced to take Gale isn't awesome either. I actually like Gale, but Torrent is generally better. If you're interested, here's my build for this classic combo:

Looks like you retained ranged softcap! That will go a long way for your survival no matter what other differences are at play. Personally, I would value capped Energy resist over a smattering of toxic and small psi resist. Ranged defense will handle the majority of psi damage anyhow. The recharge is roughly the same as the build I provided, minus the difference in Alpha choice. To achieve this small Psi and moderate toxic resist, you have sacrificed a lot of damage. Please don't take my notes a too critically - everyone has their own playstyle and preference. I do have a few observations on this iteration: Power Boost doesn't really do anything at all in this build. If anything, you could grab Afterburner as a one-slot lotg mule. It actually a fun power too. The PM proc is very strong defensively - I would recommend switching one of the other PMs in O2 out for it. Soul drain in Soul Mastery is twice the recharge of the version in Dark Mastery. Still a nice prelude to Nuke, but definitely less value than you might expect. The gloom slotting is kinda weird. If you're going for these sorts of bonuses, a three slot thunderstrike with a few procs or frankenslots would be stronger and have the same meaningful bonuses. You are lacking the reactive defense +res scaling IO. If resist is a priority, this is one of the best ways to gain it across the board. Storm is an end hog! You can probably run just fine if you pick Ageless, but exemping might catch you sucking wind at times. Honestly, even Conserve power in the other build isn't a perfect solution - this is just sort of something you learn to live with on storm. Ultimately, you'll be the best judge of what's fun for you! Get out there and blow some mobs around while tentacles devour them.

I played with this build a bit more, and decided that super proccing Dark Torrent was a bit silly. With these changes, we are now officially at ranged softcap, and have a little extra oomph in Dark Blast. To get there, I changed Tentacles to full artillery, which helps its range to better sync the cone with Night fall as well. Nightfall itself is more optimally slotted for damage now. You could shift the one damage proc in Torrent here if you like, but I like the idea of having a healthy smack when casting Torrent. An adventurous soul might think about switching Conserve power with Power Sink. This would create a more consistent end consumption cycle (CP is feast and famine), but would expose you to melee awkwardly, and isn't super compatible with hurricane shenanigans. Some people like -KB in lightning storm. I actually don't find LS to be a problem, as long as I cast it high. In fact, it can be great to pin groups in the corner hands-free in certain situations. *Edit - realized I forgot the -KB in Tornado! Modified accordingly. Tornado is not at max native recharge enhancement, but I think the procs are more worthwhile here. Also, even maxing it out would only shave off like 2.5 seconds!

I put together my approach to Storm Dark. A few notes on my build: Life Drain is axed. Self healing is handled pretty well through the ATO proc in Gloom. It procs a lot! As you noted, Life Drain itself is not super impressive as an attack on a Defender, and if self-heal and muling is its only purpose, I believe slots and picks are better used elsewhere. The Shield ATO proc is strategically placed in Moonbeam to maximize usage. I dropped Tactics. I do think it's useful, but the sacrifice in my mind is worth it in favor of other elements. Freezing Rain, Kismet, and modest global acc should be sufficient in most scenarios. I picked up Dark Pit. Great mule, and actually a very useful power for quickly neutralizing minions once slotted. O2 is just a mule for the Absorb Proc. I do actually use O2 myself from time to time, but never for its healing ability. It is very inefficient for healing from both an animation and endurance perspective. I went pretty proc happy on Torrent. You might prefer to siphon those procs to cover some of the "nice to haves" below, or other priorities. Goals I was shooting for: Heavy recharge. It looks like this was a goal you had in mind as well - it's a good one for Storm, which is reliant on some modest cooldown powers light LS and nado. Capped S/L and Energy resist. We're like half a percent shy on S/L, but close enough! As closed to Ranged softcap as possible. 1.75 off! I'll call it close enough as well, especially with all your other mitigation. The sacrifices I saw needed to hit self-softcap were not worth it. What I would ideally like, but couldn't quite fit: A little more range def to officially softcap. A few more procs in Tentacles and Nightfall. A few procs or extra enhancement for Dark Blast. Essential Stats: 93.75 global recharge before hasten. Capped S/L/E resist, pretty modest F/C too! 43.25% ranged defense. At least 30% to everything else.

That would be an extra special sweet addition. I mean, the animation time gives you plenty of time to do it after all!

Fair enough on life drain and the rotation! On dark/storm, I do spam tentacles quite a bit myself, especially when solo. If you don't use it much in your play style, then muling makes sense for sure.

I like what you've achieved with resists, overall! A few high level points to examine: Gloom is a real missed opportunity. This is a prime damage proc power, and a strong ST attack when procced out. Consider splitting Superior vigilant assault into 3's in two different powers to take advantage of 2 10% recharge bonuses with minimal investment. As Hjarki said, the sixth moonbeam slot isn't doing much for you. Generally, your toxic/psi numbers aren't high enough to make chasing them further matter very much. I would focus these efforts elsewhere. This also applies to your psi resist iOS in steamy mist and your sixth in blackstar. Small optimization - shift 2 of your weave IOs to Shield Wall instead for same enhancement and a beefier +hp bonus Slotting overwhelming force full set in tornado is a bit underwhelming. You are missing base recharge enhancement, as well as the opportunity to slot an achilles or FFback here. Nado is a great place for either/both of these. It is also auto-hit, so accuracy is wasted. Tentacles is primarily a damage power. Spamming it will give you all the duration you need. I don't think the purple bonuses are worth sacrificing slotting it as a damage cone. The second slot in hover does very little. If anything, drop a KB protection IO in here to make up for losing the KB protection in overwhelming force. Hurricane could use some slotting love. It's great, but situational these days. If you're going to use it, I'd recommend slotting it out. You could perhaps do well with base slot only if you switch out for an Enzyme exposure instead. Life Drain is primarily an attack. Feel free to drop in some frankenslotting to buff its heal a bit, but you are missing out by slotting it as a heal. Lightning storm is a great place for the Apoc proc! That's a good choice. I would keep the proc, but consider a set that suits your priorities but also includes end redux. You are going to be chugging end very hard indeed when conserve power is down otherwise. Cytoskeleton for Tactics is always great if you can afford it. Since /Dark doesn't have aim, consider slotting the Gaussian proc here as well - it works very well on teams. I would siphon an extra slot for conserve power.

I love my Stone/ice! Ice is just really strong all around, especially on Tankers. Frost is a really outstanding aoe that is available early on, and Frozen Aura is basically Foot Stomp with a better damage type. Freezing Touch is of course your ST Allstar. No matter what direction you go, I highly recommend trying out Combat Teleport. It is a game changer for any melee, but especially so for Stone/. My build is "non granite," which isn't everyone's priority, but I personally prefer both for the aesthetic and some practical purposes. Here it is below:

I think this is the right approach to lore pets! They are all very powerful - just pick the one that feels fun and fits your concept.

Assault - as per your results, doublehit is almost always the best choice for defenders. Also better in damage cap situations with Kins on the team, where core wouldn't do anything at all. Lore - I find the core (non invuln pets) damage oriented pets are pretty difficult to keep alive, even at range. A rad defender may have a better time of it solo, but bets are off on a team where more overaggro may be at play. Interface - For solo play, reactive DoT is likely the best as you noted, though degen may work better vs GMs. In teams, you will likely see this very commonly picked interface already saturated from other teammates, so if this is a mostly team character you may prefer a different, more exotic interface like spectral.

I've been playing your Rambo build and having a blast! Cryo has a rather unique and satisfying animation - very chunky, quick, and impactful. I do believe that LRM deserves about half the animation time, or maybe a shorter recharge at least, but it's great fun to throw out when it's up. As you say, sometimes it's more about embracing the theme and making the most of it with the tools available. I hope AR gets a little love some day, but this build is at the very least a very fun iteration of what is possible currently.

I am not aware of any "buff" style proc that will activate on your target. I believe panacea +hp/end, performance shifter, and other +hp or +end procs will affect your target, but not any procs that confer a direct stat benefit.

You have some great starting points, here! Rad is a classic solo defender favorite. Has every tool you could want in a defender tied in a neat little package. Pairs well with any secondary. Kin is comparatively difficult to solo early levels, but can be built very strong late game. Poison is actually a really solid solo set, and operates well on fast teams. Storm is tremendously powerful solo, though it requires a little finesse with hurricane for strong safety. Team style is much more relaxed - you won't usually break out the cane here. Dark is a worthy contender as well. Similar to Rad in many ways, but stronger defensively with a beefier heal and strong control effects. Trick Arrow is actually really great now solo! Will be a little "tricky" (ho ho ho) until your whole kit is online though. Honestly any defender is a worthy solo warrior these days, and of course you'll be welcome on any team.

I think both approaches are fine. I agree that the set bonuses allowed by WoC make Psy epic a more balanced and perhaps optimal defensive choice. I don't find that Soul Drain affects my playstyle on Poison/DP too much. I open in melee anyhow because of HoB - just one more button to push. Power economy isn't a big problem in Poison/, as the primary isn't very demanding in this regard.

I have to agree with Nemu on this one. Even my build above, which is still a little shy of softcap S/L, is more survivable than most of my other Defenders because of its strong resists. I do see Psy epic as less valuable in /DP, as you already have a procabble hold in your secondary. The real draw here would be the set bonuses in WoC. Dark epic is really nice here given that Poison already wants to live in Melee.

I love my poison/DP! Great combo choice. My build is a little silly in the lengths to which I go to mule out S/L. You may have more success with a ranged defense focus as Nemu said. This fellow plays very smoothly and dishes out plenty of damage. Speed of Sound is a concept choice - you may be better off with combat teleport or something else entirely if you prefer.